April 27th, 20th, 13th, and 6th Blog Entries: Forinoy; Thorbear, Salve, and Marietta; Araw-araw, Araw-araw, Araw-araw; and Budgeting

Mon 4/27/2015

Forinoy

Dear Everybody, and Hunter, David, and Jared,

Last week was a record-high week for total lessons taught! President has moved most of the administrative things off our plate and given us the opportunity to have a model area. We've been able to leave the office tiles behind and hit the pavement! We had two great exchanges where I went with an Australian and then a Californian elder. We saw plans fall through--and miracles come in. The Australian's name was Elder Pickford, and I just love him. We went into his densely populated area on a rainy Tuesday and had plans fall through one by one. It was around 8, and we still hadn't taught a lesson that day. We'd talked to many people, but with little luck. We were using the ward directory, and found people that'd left. Eventually we made our way to the Wong family. Brother Wong had come home just for vacation--and for us! He's the only member in the family, and the whole family is open to be baptized! That small miracle made up for everything that didn't go right. 

We taught Noah at a member's house on Thursday and set up the baptismal interview for Saturday. He didn't show up at the office like he said, so we headed directly to his house, where, thankfully, he agreed to be interviewed! He passed, and now his baptism is happening this Saturday. 

Another cool note: there's a popular show in the Philippines called Forinoy, which is a word coming from "foreign" and "pinoy" (i.e. Filipino).  In this show I think non-filipino people come and they speak in the languages here in the Philippines and do a little bit of dancing, but I'm not sure. In one of the pictures I attached, you see a man named Dwayne Bulley, who served his mission here, and knows Tagalog, Wari-Wari, and Cebuano. He's a contestant and is up to the next round of the show!

Last thing. We had a service project last Saturday, and swept a bunch of streets in our area with the ward, and talked to a ton of people. It took an hour, and then took another hour to eat. 

Take care!

Elder Thurber - Philippines Manila Mission

#BecauseHeLives

HeLives.mormon.org

Mon 4/20/2015

Thorbear, Salve, and Marietta

Hello, 

I wouldn't give myself a good rating on comletely describing my missionary experience in my blog entries. They've been mostly about the most interesting parts of my mission, but not necessarily about my average day-to-day walk.  So my blog entries seem to be about things that are relatively unrealistic, albeit exciting, at least to me. Maybe I'm writing this blog entry so you don't get the complete wrong idea about what a mission here is like. We experience very mundane and repetitive things as missionaries, like following-up with investigators on reading the scriptures, attending church, etc. But most of the glamour comes because there's grit—

Like this week: It was hot, and we were out of the office, preaching the gospel in our area, Palanan. We had a few copes of The Book of Mormon returned to us from people no longer interested. Some people said there wasn't any difference between our religion and theirs, so they said we were wasting their time. A few decided to just simply hide. Yes, Filipinos are very nice people, but it's something about the gospel that they don't get yet. 

So why bother? Those experiences are so common in every missionary's life. I've found comfort in PMG. It says "when you have done your very best, you may still experience disappointments, but you will not be disappointed in yourself." Being out on a mission for a while has brought me to the point that I treasure any opportunity to share the gospel because it strengthens my own testimony—and—maybe they'll just accept it.

It's people like these that are on the road to conversion that make me smile:

•          Last Sunday a Danish man in his 20's came to church named Thorbear. He only came for "moral support" for his Filipina member girlfriend, but he loved what he saw in church, and will be coming back every week with her. We had a good conversation about the origin of his name and my own. I remember him asking, "So you have many people from different countries?" To which I responded, "Yeah, he's from Brazil and doesn't speak English. That family's from Japan. I think they're Korean. He's from Ghana.  There are a few families from Utah, and there is a couple that just moved in from New Zealand." 
•          Salve is Jerome's mom. She came to church for the first time last Sunday to support him. Jerome passed his interview on Saturday, but his mom was a little concerned he wasn't ready. Before church started, Bishop Espi told us he wouldn't let Jerome get baptized. After sacrament, he talked to Salve, then brought us in. He said he would allow Jerome be baptized on the 16th of May if she would come to church every Sunday. 
•          Saturday, we looked for members we hadn't met. We were looking for a family at a particular address when we met a different lady named Marietta, who's an endowed member who always bears her testimony to people. We hadn’t seen her at church because she just arrived. She used to live in Virginia Beach, and now has a new non-member husband, who we will be teaching. 

This is a written commitment we gave to Alexander, who hadn't been attending church.
He came to church this Sunday.

Alexander is on the left, along with some of his family, who are members.

This is another reason I love being a missionary:  
Family Home Evening at member's houses.

That's all I'd like to share today. I am thankful I can be part of this work, where people really change.

Elder Thurber

Mon 4/13/2015 2:41 AM

Araw-araw, Araw-araw, Araw-araw

Dear Everybody,

I'm currently surrounded by a bunch of missionaries from the Mandaluyong during interviews. I'm the hall monitor while classes go on! Thus is my life. 

Jerome's baptism is coming up on the 25th! He cracks me up! This week we've actually had enough time to teach him some of the lessons. He's going to be turning twelve two days before his actual baptism. The problem is he loves Primary too much and wants to stay there!

We're striving to teach his mom, Salve, who has been taught before. The problem is Jerome’s sister Sheila planned to bear hear testimony on the 5th (which wasn't GC for us) and didn't want her mom to hear her testimony, so she told her mom not to go, even though we tried our best to commit her to come to church. She’ll hopefully at least come to Jerome's baptism on the 25th. 

The title of this entry is entitled as such because of the talk by the seventy Elder Pearson, who said to read the scriptures "every day, every day, every day." Well, Araw-araw, araw-araw, araw-araw is the Tagalog of daily 3x. As an assistant, my schedule varies, and I have to fit in personal study whenever possible during the day no matter what, according to President Ostler. Other missionaries almost always get it in at 8 AM every morning, but it takes effort on my part. And now I can testify the importance of what Elder Pearson said. I add to the end of his words: no excuses, no excuses, no excuses. I've found on my mission, from everybody I've met that WE ALL HAVE TIME TO READ THE SCRIPTURES! I won't say I've been perfect at it in my life, and may have rationalized my lack of reading, but I will try my best for the rest of my life. And I encourage you to do the same. People are happier, more peaceful, and loving when they read the scriptures. 

That's all I have this week! 

Mon 4/6/2015 12:43 AM

Budgeting

Dear Everybody,

Due to Sister Hiatt's sickness, the Hiatts have been staying here in Manila, and will leave on the 15th. President Hiatt is the 2nd counselor in the mission presidency, and they have been in Palawan for a while now. We're in interview season yet again (there's 2 this week), and so they're teaching the classes, not us. We're just the hall monitors. 

During the interviews, and also during MLC, we discussed in depth the importance of budgeting. Many people really struggle with budgeting! So now we're accounting for how much money each missionary has and their emergency fund (which should be 3000 pesos). Missionaries now receive 8000 pesos of support each month. At the end of March, many missionaries were eating out of their 72 hr kits because they used all their support and emergency fund. Sad, right? Well, some missionaries are already down to 3000 pesos in support for this month of April. In comparison, other missionaries have budgeted wisely, and get to enjoy a life free of financial stress! Self-discipline really pays off. 

Here are some other random cool parts of the week:

Some cool views from Makati.
We're looking down on the Buendia office from a neighboring building.

    

Paul Groome and his family.

We finally got to teach Paul Groome! We went 30 minutes north of Buendia Chapel and taught his family. 
       

Three boys came to church yesterday in the fourth ward. There was one from Taiwan, but has been here for 10 years and speaks Tagalog. They were making a report on the differences between Mormonism and Catholicism. They asked questions about the degrees of glory, purgatory, the cross, etc. I think they were blown away with how different it was. 
     

  

Our wonderful district at the Northrup's apartment
where we watched Big Hero 6.

The Jensens, a Canadian family in the 4th ward, fed us a Jewish-inspired Easter dinner, which consisted of lamb and unleavened bread, among other things I haven't eaten in forever. 

Before our Easter dinner, we realized we needed more companionship pictures.

--

Elder Thurber - Philippines Manila Mission

#BecauseHeLives

HeLives.mormon.org

#BecauseHeLives; Let's Do Everything We Can So Families Can Be Together Forever; Palawan

Mon 3/30/2015

#BecauseHeLives

Dear Friends and Family,

I hope everybody knows about the Church's initiative this Easter! It's really exciting and I hope many people will be able to know about Jesus Christ because of the site.

It's HeLives.mormon.org and hashtag it with #BecauseHeLives. Please share it on social media. People don't feel the spirit too often, but sharing the video helps them understand who Jesus Christ really is. Many people know about Jesus Christ, but very very few actually know him. 

Missionaries are busy with the initiative in this mission. In various wards, missionaries have been speaking about the initiative and showing the video, having open houses, and taking pictures with the maroon icon, like the one in the pictures I sent. We have a new key indicator: new investigators found from the initiative. 

This transfer week has been fun. Instead of doing an endowment session with other missionaries, we went and did sealings for an hour or so. For many missionaries, it was their first time. It was surprisingly spiritual, at least for me. Sister Northrup, a senior missionary, had many names she wanted done. 

The transfer day, Tuesday, was just too chaotic. We anticipated 11 missionaries coming in, but there were only 7. It resulted in a transfer inside of a transfer, where we called 4 elders and told them they wouldn't be training, breaking their heart, and closing two areas. During the orientation for the new missionaries, I received a text that missionaries going to Palawan didn't catch their flight, sending us yet again panicking. It eventually sorted itself out, and missionaries were still able to work. Not too much harm done (minus the tickets the mission bought) but I sure am glad that's all over! 

Tell everybody back home that I miss and love them!

Elder Thurber

Mon 3/23/2015

Let's Do Everything We Can So Families Can Be Together Forever

These pictures are from the porch of one of our recent converts, Elias Samonte.  He lives on the 39th floor of a building close to our apartment.

Dear People,

If I've been learning from the tiny mistakes of all sorts I've made these past 3 months, it is that one must be prepared early for anything to go well. There's so much to prepare for all the time. This is transfer week, and Elder Francisco and I have been preparing. Despite our thought-through attempts at being prepared, something always happens. Like, for example, we need to print out at bunch of pass-along cards, which I thought would be an easy process, but in fact need to be taken to a print shop to have nice quality. 

"This life is the time for people to prepare to meet God." Everything we do should, indeed, be preparation for that day. There are actually very few decisions we make that don't have effect on our preparation. You may think I'm kidding, but I know it's true. 

Every day on the way to the office, I see a poster that says: "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is right now." We got a "new" investigator from England named Paul who is in his 60's. He's been taught by other missionaries, but doesn't know any Tagalog, so he finally transferred to the English ward. He was Islamic for much of his life, and married a member. He's part of a company that teaches people how to teach English. When we met with him, and during church, it was evident that he has repented and really wants to follow Christ. He's in his 60's, but he finally has decided to make the decision to prepare to meet God and be baptized! The only issue is he's still married to one of his previous wives, and will lose contact with his kids if he divorces her. He's in the process of requesting permission for that baptism.  Pretty cool, right?

Well, in the mission, we're focusing on getting 72 hr kits! Also, we are striving for self-reliance in budgeting and eating, learning how to communicate effectively with your companion, and making sure people are fully taught and ready before they get baptized. 

So, when I consider what's been most important to the people I've seen here in the Philippines, families are always on the top of the list. A sister came in today whose father died last night.  Everything stands still when we are forced to contemplate the effect the loss of one person can have on their families. I hear about things happening at home, and wish that everybody would stay worthy to be with their families in the eternities. We do everything we can to bless families.

'Til the end of my mission, I want to stay focused on the family--protecting them, and bringing the gospel into their lives. There is nothing more important than to remain with our families. Disobedience to the commandments ultimately means you can't be with your family forever, unless you repent and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. We must do everything we can to prepare to live with our families forever, and offer others the same glorious opportunity for their families to be together forever, also.

Elder Thurber

Mon 3/16/2015

Palawan

Dear everybody,

Zone conferences are over! Tuesday's went great, as I got to meet with many missionaries close to me. Wednesday morning, we got up at 3:30 AM (BLEH) to catch a flight going to Palawan, and did two exchanges before Friday's zone conference. It had been a year since I had been there. 

Upon landing, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Palawan was green and beautiful! With the first whiff of air, I felt reinvigorated. We went directly to the apartment of the zone leaders in Santa Monica, passing souvenir stores left and right.  We arrived there at 7 am, and then left directly for a service project where I got a sunburn in two hours. It didn't occur to me that Manila's pollution is so bad, the sun rays can't hit us. But in Palawan, there's nothing to block it. Once studies were done, we worked the rest of the day--and people accepted us and let us teach them. It was great! The highlight was visiting a humble family who is preparing to attend the temple. They said they want the missionaries to come every week. In half of their house, they have a dirt floor. In the midst of it all, they had a picture of the temple. I was uplifted as I saw their faith to become worthy to enter the temple--all 4 of them. 

Early Thursday morning, we traveled down to Elder Francisco's last area, and I went with Elder Matalang. This is the 3rd time I've worked with him! We also visited a member family who was sealed in the 80s, paving the way for the church in Palawan. The man eventually became a branch president but has now been released. They told us that the only thing you need to enter the temple is desire. The money or the distance is no matter because of the Lord. 

Zone conference went well! I got to see Elder Suquib again, who is doing great, along with many others. While teaching the missionaries about members, we had to use a different approach b/c members here need more strength and love from missionaries.

We eventually returned to the city and worked Saturday. I already miss Palawan, though. The bright rays of light and love come most from those who want to come to Christ, like Noah. He'll be baptized in April, and is half-way through reading D&C. 

Oh, I feel so blessed to be a missionary!

Elder Thurber

The Secret to Happiness is Gratitude; Zone Conference; Learn to Rely on Him; Peace in the Midst of Chaos

3/9/2015

Gratitude and Looking Back

Hello everybody!

I'm filled with gratitude as the week draws to a close on Sunday night. 

Here are some odd highlights:

• Right after we dropped off the Palawan missionaries at the airport, I accidentally hit a rock and blew out the tire (see picture). We had so much to do still, so we were scared. I managed to get the spare tire out of the van, but no jack. After about 5 minutes, a Filipino man came over the barrier and asked if we needed help. He then quickly got out his jack and switched the tire for us, and wouldn't accept any money for his service. The relief and gratitude I felt was almost so overwhelming that I could barely drive. As we talked to him, we found out he was initially from Aborlan Palawan, where I used to work. We're going to refer his parents to the missionaries!

• Eruption (or Eric Tai) had his celebrity wedding.  

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/03/07/15/watch-eruption-and-ronas-beautiful-wedding

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Eric Tai (born August 23, 1984) is a Tongan actor from New Zealand, model, TV host, comedian and rugby union player who played for the Alabang Eagles and represented thePhilippines national rugby union team in 15s and 7s. He is also one of the hosts of It's Showtime, where he goes by the screen name, Eruption.  Eric first came to the Philippines as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter day Saints (Mormons) where he was able to serve a 2 year mission in Naga Mission, Philippines. He was able to return years later playing Rugby which is his childhood sport in Tonga and New Zealand. Eric was launched himself as a part of Philippine Volcanoes around 2010 or 2011. Eruption began hosting on It's Showtime in 2012.)

Eric Tai and Rona Samson had their wedding in a stake center, and 95% were nonmembers. Many were big name celebrities. They said the wedding was on social media. At one point, President Ardern, the area president, spoke to all of them about the importance of families, and everybody was given a copy of The Family: A Proclamation to the World. I'm so glad The Church is growing!

You can see my picture with Brother Tai a little later in this blog post.

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be starting an Initiative called "Because He Lives." It is to help everybody know of Jesus Christ better. I'm sure soon you'll know about it, too--but you heard it from me first! Remember the date: March 28th. There will be a site created just for it. On April 5th, the church will be the sole advertiser on YouTube. 

• On Saturday, foreign missionaries going home in the next year went to get fingerprinting done at the area office. Since that included other missionaries, I got to see everybody from the MTC! I saw Elder Langi, my old companion, who looks great still. Elder Lang-siu, another batchmate, showed me a picture of a woman who I used to teach. I had referred her, and then I saw a picture of her:  at her baptism!

This photo at Buendia Meetinghouse is of all the missionaries I had driven back from fingerprinting, which is a required by the Philippines government for all the missionaries who will be leaving the Philippines after serving missions.

During the fingerprinting, Sister Ostler asked that we deliver flowers to Sister Hiatt, the wife of the 1st counselor in the mission presidency. I'll tell you her story which we heard in MLC: 

She got appendicitis and had surgery in Puerto, but complications arose after, and she needed to go to St. Luke’s Hospital immediately for surgery. Incredibly, they got a flight soon for her surgery. When she got off the plane, despite the pain, she was smiling. While she was in the hospital, she was always smiling when she talked. She shared the gospel and invited many people to listen to the missionaries. President Ostler gave her a blessing that the operation would go well. It did! Throughout the whole experience, and even now as she remains in the hospital recovering, she constantly expresses gratitude for every blessing, large and small.

Well, her condition worsened. As we came into her room at St. Luke’s, we saw her all hooked up and in a weak state. She said she couldn't pray with her eyes closed, because she would fall asleep. Despite this, we saw her smile. She talked about how grateful she was. She gave us a business card of a doctor who lives in our mission which we referred to other missionaries. 

I hope you see how I grateful I am to be a missionary! I find great gratitude being around other people who want to serve and who have the light of Christ.

In the second photo, I'm taking all of the missionaries back to Buendia Chapel after fingerprinting. I get to hear about all the hard work they do, and it makes me grateful. 

"The Secret to Happiness is Gratitude."

Elder Thurber

Mon 3/2/2015

Zone Conference

Dear Everybody, 

At Russel Chapel, where we did exchanges with some zone leaders. It's built like an dorm, but it's a church. 

WOOO! Today... I can relax a little. We finished preparing this past week’s zone conference, which took a lot of work and brain power. There was one on Thursday and Friday. Two weeks from now we'll have two more. One will be in Palawan and I'll get to work over there :D. 

Zone Conference was powerful. It held was from 9 AM to 4 PM. The central message President Ostler taught was becoming pure vessels. He listed off some very good reasons for being obedient. One powerful reason for being exactly obedient was that you can only live with your family in the next life if you are obedient. 

Sister Ostler spoke about how during a particularly difficult pregnancy she could only find relief through thinking about those she loved, particularly her kids. As people focus on others, difficult things become possible. She had Elder Osguthorpe sing "I Cannot Watch Him" (from The Lamb of God) while I accompanied him. 

Elder Francisco talked about accidental and deliberate change. The accidental change comes about when we follow the flow and let the world decide who we are. But it doesn't compare to the full potential that deliberate change gives to us when we choose the best of the best in life. 

I talked about surrender, which means "to agree to stop fighting, hiding, resisting, etc because you know you cannot win." When we're missionaries, we must surrender the natural man to God because we know we cannot win. One bad example of surrender is Zerahemnah when Moroni demanded surrender. In Alma 44:8 he barely surrenders, which is what missionaries can do when they "temporarily" give themselves to the Lord. 

This week, we have to prepare for Mission Leadership Council. This is my third, but I feel like I've only been in the office for a week. 

Oh, how time flies!

Elder Thurber

2/23/2015

Learn to Rely on Him

Dear Everyone,

I feel like I should write what I feel and need to hear, even if I'm the one saying it. 

When irregular because the norm, or when the seldom increases in popularity, or if the world flips upside down, you discover some things about yourself. Here's what I've discovered this week. 

1. You have a breaking point. The Lord doesn't. 

This week we've been planning and preparing and replanning and editing and analyzing and rethinking everything for this week's two zone conferences. You really want to do everything right when you're going to be teaching the whole mission.  Because things are always popping up that I need to do, I realize how very little I can actually do. What would you do when there's nothing of yourself left to give? 

You must give yourself to the Lord. Unconditional surrender. I know that the Lord can make a perfect zone conference, yet He still decides to use people like me, and has given me a connecting link: revelation. I have the Lord's promise that if I repent and remain worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost, I can receive revelation to magnify my office. And it is magnificent! I've felt it this week! I feel sad for the people who have never seen the need to rely on the Lord's wisdom. 

2. When you're in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God. 

I would often lightly say to members working with us that "either the church is true or we're crazy." Today, I feel like I can't serve as much as I need to! Sometimes I don't have the poise or stamina to help the people around me in whatever situation they're in, because of other things pressing on my mind. I believe that as I'm helping them, I'm serving Him who is actually strengthening me to even do it!

It's evident to me and maybe to you that all of what is happening is to glorify God. It's all His. He created us like a shuffled up Rubik’s cube and he knows we don't know how to solve "ourselves." We must seek Him through prayer and scriptures to gain knowledge about who we are and what our potential is. 

I guess I have a few more minutes, so I'll write the following: 

We had four investigators are church last Sunday, even though we had one lesson the entire week.

• One was Noah, who's now planning on getting baptized on April 19th. Woo!
• Another was Vitor, who came in stylin' in a white shirt, tie and slacks with Laurro Vianna. He knows essentially nothing about the church, but he says he likes the church's fashion. 
• Sheila's younger brother, Jerome, got up the courage to get up early enough to come to church! He's going to be baptized in March if he continues on. 
• Then, a man from Israel came in who had met missionaries in Taiwan who told him the time of our church. He said he came to find peace, because he's made some mistakes (and got robbed of almost everything a week ago.) He met with Bishop Hill, and we hope to meet with him soon. 

    Although he didn't attend sacrament, there was a guy named Trung from Japan who came for an ecclesiastical endorsement to attend BYU Provo, even though he's never even met the missionaries. His friends said BYU was a "safe" school and everybody was happy, and that the business program was good. I feel like he's a blessing that just fell into our hands!

Take care! Please pray that Zone Conference will go well!

Elder Thurber

2/16/2015

Peace in the Midst of Chaos

Hello Po!

This week has been particularly chaotic. Monday was preparation for transfers, Tuesday was going home activities, Wednesday was new missionary orientation, Thursday was new leadership training planning with President Ostler and P-day activities, Friday was work in our area, Saturday was bringing missionaries to and from the airport all day, and Sunday was introducing the new sisters to the Makati 4th ward and a missionary fireside.

In the midst of chaos, I've found peace in knowing I'm doing my part, however small or poorly put together it may be.

Tuesday was particularly chaotic; I became an assistant during transfer day, so I never got to be with Elder Obray for the going home activities. Elder Francisco, Rydalch, McQuarrie and I all had a crazy time getting luggage to the suite (we'd never been to) missionaries would be staying in. The bonus of the hectic day? We went to the temple, had a fantastic dinner, and listened to all the missionaries who left before taking them home. 

Wednesday, we got up early to get the 4 new missionaries from the MTC, brought them to the mission home, then taught a bunch of stuff to them. During those activities, transfers were taking place at the mission office. The difficulty of the day was that the mission could only book flights for Saturday, so missionaries had to figure out threesomes. At the end of the day, we realized the next day we had leadership training. We thought we could relax. We thought wrong. 

Thursday, we found out we had lost the power cord to the projector, a key part of any training meeting in the mission. Because we had office elders, they got it to us, and we started the meeting on time. Afterwards, President met with us and reviewed with us what had happened and what could've been done better. Then, with the office elders, we figured out how Saturday's transfers would go. 

Friday was unusually normal. We contacted a sweet referral who will be coming to church soon. 

Saturday, we tackled the enormous task of getting missionaries to Palawan and driving home those coming back.  Everything went OK, except that we got lost a million times in dangerous parts of Manila at night. We eventually got home at 2:06, exhausted. I fell asleep in my slacks. 

Elder Thurber, Elder Francisco, Eric Tai, Sister Lockwood, and Sister Dewan

Sunday, I had fun introducing Elder Francisco to church. Also, we have two new sisters in our ward! They're Sister Dewan and Sister Lockwood. Sister Lockwood came from Palawan, so she was rather culture shocked. We had leave to give a blessing at 12, and then attended the three hours of 4th ward. After we got a picture with Eric Tai, a member who's a host on a TV show called Showtime. 

There's a little part of my week! It's times like this where I pray for guidance for a few seconds before something else happens. It's times like this where I feel the help of the Lord come to me

It's times like this where I am so happy that I get to be a servant of the Lord.

Elder Thurber

1/19/15 Ends Create Beginnings; also previous week

January 19, 2015

Dear Everybody (and my roommate Jacob),

Yet another chaotic week has passed upon me! Of all the things that have happened, I'm beginning to realize how great ends are. Don't worry--I'm not talking about the end of my mission, for those people who might think I'm trunky. The life of a missionary is so great I don't want to go home, no matter how much I miss you or love you. Rather, I'm saying with each end comes a new perspective and real change. 

Prime and first example: the end of our time in heaven before our births here. We came to a conclusion that our time at home in heaven wasn't the best for us, so we followed God's plan so we could learn for ourselves. 

Last Saturday, I was able to attend the funeral of a boy I met and loved. He was only four years old--a victim to dengue fever. I taught his whole family and grew to love him. I was stunned last Sunday to hear that he had passed on. In the funeral I saw many of the members I love, and saw the 4 y.o.'s parents and heard them speak. As the first to teach them the gospel, I felt both sad for their loss, but also happy at the same time, knowing that they would be led to not only believe, but to rely on Jesus Christ and his atonement. They had already seen the temple and even did family history. Now they need the temple and family history! We needed to get back home, and I couldn't stay and talk much to them, but I just simply said that I knew that what goes on in the temple is true.  

So, my time ended with them rather abruptly, and this end brought to me an added layer of love for Jesus Christ and the belief that families can indeed be together forever. I've gained a perspective that'll change my reaction to any devastating incident that could occur--I can find peace in knowing everything is covered! I've changed to live by faith rather than reaction.

Perhaps you know the song If You Could Hie to Kolob: 

There is no end to glory;

There is no end to love; 

There is no end to being;

There is no death above.

It's a shame nobody gets to that last verse! We can only truly rely on God's plan. That’s my purpose as a missionary and it's what I love to do. 

Elder Thurber

1/5/2015

Elder Francisco; Educational Pursuits and "Educational Pursuits"; Gaston, Portugese, Ray Goodson, and Whose Line is it Anyway

Mon 2/9/2015 5:21 AM

Elder Francisco

Dear Everybody,

Ah! My first transfer as an assistant is ending! I got a text from President saying that Elder Francisco will be the new assistant, and I'm sitting right next to him, emailing you while doing other things. He was my zone leader in Bonifacio, and is from Tarlac City. I remember seeing him last transfer and hearing him say to me "I do not envy you being in the office." Teehehehe.

We love bowling in our district!

We assigned some sister training leaders to talk about budgeting in MLC, so they 
got with Elder Rydalch and McQuarrie and handed all of these out with quotes 
on the back on how to budget. Funny, but embarrassing, don't you think?

This week has been awesome! We had interviews, MLC, a New Trainers Mtg, met a former investigator, and waited outside while Elder Obray went to the "Finish Strong Mtg." He'll be going home with 15 others tomorrow, and Elder Francisco and I are in charge of making sure everything runs smoothly, while helping others during transfers. 

In MLC, we talked a lot about a video by Henry B. Eyring called "Choose this Day." We're hoping missionaries will use time more wisely, so we talked about what we taught last MLC.

Elder Obray's birthday was this past week, so we basically celebrated all week. 
We had so many appointments where we got fed! 

Another birthday celebration!

Queennee lives super close to Buendia Chapel, so she had us over for lunch
outside her condominium. She gave us, among other things, designer jackets. 

On Saturday, we finally met a great man named Dominique, who is a black man from France who was taught previously by some legends of the mission. He was upfront with his opinions and has read the bible several times. We had a deep discussion on God with him, and invited him to church, like he did a year ago when he was getting taught. Like our dinner appointment with Noah's parents, he's thought of the hard questions to ask, such as "Why does God let bad things happen?"  He really wanted to listen to us and to come closer to God. 

Perspective is key to finding answers to questions and peace in this life, and the one to come. I think one overlooked portion of God's plan is the resurrection. I mentioned previously about miracles and how it depends on your perspective, but to have somebody come back from the dead is a phenomenon that could only come from God! 

I don't have any more time to email, but I must say what I know is true: Through the atonement, Christ brought upon him the suffering of all mankind, and allowed each of us to return to the presence of God to be judged. Christ's disciples became discouraged and lost hope when Christ was buried, despite the numerous miracles they witnessed by his power. 

Yet, he lived again! He lives now! I know He lives! With Him, everything is possible. What do you want to be possible? Could you pick one thing? I pick eternal life. And Christ made that all possible. 

"Oh sweet the joy this sentence gives: I know that my redeemer lives!"

Elder Thurber

Mon 2/2/2015 3:41 AM

Educational Pursuits and "Educational Pursuits"

Dear Everybody, regardless of whether or not I've met you,

With President Ostler gone doing interviews in Palawan, we've had time to get out and share the gospel. We went on two exchanges with zone leaders, and learned a lot. Does anybody remember Elder Proudfit from the MTC? I worked with him in our area. For some reason, we decided to go inside this little alley. There we found this cute 7 m.o. baby and two parents who already pray and are Christian, who let us in and listened to our message of the gospel. 

I then went to my last area, San Juan Manila, where I got to see many people I had grown to love. Above all, I'll admit, I was excited for my painting brother Toledo made. It's gorgeous, and I'm happy that they're still on the straight and narrow path. They're still doing family scripture reading. 

I'm treasuring my time I have to work with Elder Obray. I probably won't be able to work with him much more, because this week we'll have interviews, MLC, train the new trainers, and prepare for the departing missionaries the coming week which will include Elder Obray. He's actually been busy applying for BYU, along with many other missionaries, from countries such as Sri Lanka and Fiji. As a mission, we're trying our best to make missionaries aware of the educational opportunities available to them, and church schools are what most RMs want. 

Elder Obray and I had one interesting appointment together with Noah. I've mentioned him before and how interested he is, and he's still doing great. His parents wanted to meet us, so they invited us over for dinner, in Das Marinas village, which is also where the mission home is. The home is a great place, but Noah's house was a mansion, and must be in an IKEA magazine. His parents are from Sweden and have names I can't pronounce, let alone spell. For dinner, they asked us if we had gone to IKEA before, to which I enthusiastically responded “Yes!”

We've been hoping that Noah will be baptized quickly, but he, along with his mom, was born into The Church of Sweden, which is Lutheran. His mom is asking him to take it slow. She is one of the top executives at Asian Development Bank, which reaches to all sorts of countries. She travels all the time, and even has been to Virginia a few times. We were hoping they would be interested in our message. They said they'd listen as an "educational pursuit," which is great, but brought up issues with evolution, and believe only in a "supreme creator." 

How can we claim that Adam and Eve even existed? It's a tough question, but many true things are centered on their fall. I believe in evolution, but I also believe that Adam and Eve were the first of God's children He put on the earth, and that we all descended from them. Think about this verse in 1 Cor 2:

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

If you really truly want to know if they existed, I have no better suggestion than for you personally to ask God. It's amazing how much doctrine must rely on whether or not they existed. Nevertheless, He will answer, and you will know that The Plan of Salvation is true. 

That's all I have to share! Oh, and it's Elder Obray's b-day today, so we've been celebrating. 

Happy Birthday, Elder Obray!

Elder Thurber

Mon 1/26/2015 3:43 AM

Gaston, Portugese, Ray Goodson, and Whose Line is it Anyway

Greetings!

Weird is the word that describes this week the best. I've reached a record low of lessons to members or investigators and set a record for the most taught to missionaries. We've been holding things together during President Ostler's interviews to the missionaries from Tuesday to Friday. We're continually teaching people about learning English effectively. We've changed our approach, however, to be more fun than anything so they'll want to apply it during their language study. We eventually concluded that a few parts of “Whose Line is It, Anyway” are great for learning English! Making up stories is especially fun. We had missionaries laughing all week. On top of that, we had to cover for some Sister Training Leaders a few times, so we also taught about prayer. Additionally, we taught in a follow-up meeting for new missionaries. With that, there was little time to proselyte. 

I gave Elder Ronquillo his ticket yesterday.  He's no longer a visa waiter.
He's going to Edmonton, Canada now.  He was nervous and remarked
how fast time has gone for him.  I'm super proud to have been his trainer,
and I know the mission over there will need him.

Sundays are turning into the most productive day for us. After the 3rd ward, we used that hour to re-teach Sheila and share with Noah, along with Caleb, President Ostler's son--and cram in some food and coordinate with the ward mission leader. 

This is Adam with the Sunday School class. 
Does he look like Gaston?  I think so!

My mom asked me what the most interesting part of the week was for me. I can't narrow it down so I'll just share what happened that was cool. After Sacrament Mtg in Makati 3rd (Tagalog speaking), we saw a tall American in the hallway asking if the international ward was about to start. We talked to him and found out he is in the musical Beauty and the Beast--and he's Gaston! He's from Utah and served a mission. There were many Filipinas fawning over him and getting his picture as Sunday School ended. How ironic; he's right for the role. 

In the opening exercises of the 4th ward, a man who sometimes visits here named Ray Goodson was introduced by his friend. He had served his mission in Taiwan for three years until he got a yet another call to preach the gospel to an area yet to be proselyted--the Philippines. He was one of the first four missionaries called to this country. 16 years later, he came back as a mission president. 

The man on the left is named Ninyo, and is one of our
recent converts.  The other two are active members.

I have been texting with a man named Lauro. He comes from Brazil, and knows very little English. We communicate by using his translator on his phone. Undeterred by the lack of communication, he is going to have us over for dinner and teach his relative who doesn't understand any English either. I'm pretty pumped, and am learning a little Portuguese. 

Pretty cool things, right? Well, I think my interactions with President Ostler tops all of them. He tirelessly works to help each missionary in whatever they need. Do you want to feel better? Talk to him for a minute. Want to feel the spirit? Listen to him teach. I prize every moment I have with the man. I feel too lucky to be around him. He's gone the extra mile to truly follow Jesus Christ, and I've felt inspired to be more charitable as I hear him talk about missionaries.

Take care! 

Elder Thurber